Gladly Would I Teach

Sunday night I started writing my final round of teacher recommendations for college acceptance. For as long as I can remember, I have had to spend part of my Christmas vacation writing college recommendations, primarily for The University of Georgia.

UGA and Georgia Tech are the most popular college choices for my students. Students who apply to UGA for early admission do not find out if they have been accepted until the weekend before the final week of school before Christmas Break.

Students who are not accepted must then write several essays and obtain a teacher recommendation by Jan. 15th. So, on the final week of the semester when teachers are swamped with final grades and worried about submitting grades on time, we must also try to sound happy and offer encouragement as  crestfallen students approach us during our final week and ask us to write recommendations for them.

Sunday night I opened my large folder to review the files of 14 students whose recommendations I must write. They are all good students, but several of them forgot to attach a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Two students neglected to attach forms that list their extra-curricular activities, and one student gave me a counselor’s form to complete instead of a teacher recommendation form. I sent emails and asked for the needed items.

Twenty-four hours later, only one student had responded.

I worked on recommendations all day yesterday, and I’ll spend another day writing letters today.  Thankfully, this year UGA provided a way to submit recommendations online.

At least I don’t have to spend part of my vacation standing in line to buy stamps at the post office. Besides, if I didn’t have good students, I wouldn’t have to write any recommendations.